A Shocking Dose Of Reality!

So last week my wife’s step dad, Zeau, passed away from a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease  is a chronic and progressive degenerative disease of the brain that impairs motor control, speech, and other functions.

Now my wife’s step Dad was a heck of a guy.  In life he graduated from the Wharton School of business and was the CFO for a major hospital out here in the suburbs of Philly.

Zeau never had a bad word to say about anyone and NEVER said no to the grand kids!

Zeau will be greatly missed that’s for sure.

But despite all the tough times and sorrow, his passing has lead to a new beginning for me.

You see, as we gathered for a meal after the services, a slide show played in the background with old pictures of Zeau.

There were pictures of Zeau as a baby playing with his brothers, a young boy at summer camp, Zeau as a college man and of course lots of pictures with my wife’s mom sharing good times!

I think in times like these we all face our own mortality.

But there was something about those boy hood and college pictures that stuck with me.

As I looked at Zeau in those photos I thought back to when I was a boy… which was not long ago.

I think back to my days in little league, the excitement of Christmas morning and summer vacations in Ocean City, Maryland with my mom and Dad.

I remember counting the years forward and wondering what my life would be like when I was 25, 30 and even in my 60’s.

Ah, not to worry, those days are so far away, right?

But in a blink of an eye  38 years of time is behind me.

So as I’m looking at those old photos from the 1920′ s and 1930’s I am taken back at just how fast time escapes us all.

Then I looked at my wife Michelle and my 3 little ones and I started to think about what’s important.

All those long nights on the computer or on client calls…for what?

I’m missing the precious little time I have with them on this earth!

I understand we work to get the things we want in life but why do we always build our lifestyle around our work?

Shouldn’t we build our work around our lifestyle?

So I am  going to completely rearrange how I do my business going forward ensuring my work and business revolves around my lifestyle…

Look, my goal is to make enough money to have a nice home, a nice car and get to travel with my family all over the world.

To see things only a few ever get to see.

You see a lot of people think money is evil and rich people are greedy but I completely disagree.

I believe God wants you to prosper so you can help the less fortunate and see the world he created.

If you don’t have the means to do this, how will you ever see all the wonder?

I am dedicated to spending more time with my kids and my wife….to go out and grab ice cream and attend their soccer games at the drop of a hat.

To log off my computer EVERY night at 6PM and not cut dinner short for a client call.

I’m now designing my business around my lifestyle and it feels great!

So now I ask you, how are you going to change what you’re doing to mold your business around YOUR lifestyle?

What do you want out of life?

How do you want YOUR life to look?

How can you design your business or work around your lifestyle?

Now get busy, Bill Parlaman